Background & Aim: Provision of essential information to patients is essential in medical services. However, results­ of patient education surveys show that medical personnel&aposs perceptions may not align with those of patients about educational needs. This study was carried out to determine and compare educational priorities between patients and medical personnel.

Methods & Materials: In this cross-sectional study, 69 patients with epilepsy, and 85 medical personnel (physicians and nurses) working in neurology, neurosurgery and pediatrics units were recruited. Data were gathered using a questionnaire consisting of three subsets with a total of 28 items. Data were analyzed with descriptive statistics and one-way ANOVA.

Results: More patients (58.2%) were male. Mean age was 30.8 years. Mean ages of nurses and doctors were 29.8 and37.8 years, respectively.­ Mean score of items regarding the disease in patients group was significantly higher than the medical personnel (P=0.00). Mean score of items about life style was higher in patients and nurses than the doctors (P=0.001). There were no significant differences about informational priorities of the drug therapy subset between three groups (P=0.53).

Conclusion: Education needs assessments should be done by considering patients&apos educational priorities in order to meet their educational needs­.